Creative uses for Parallel

This article explains how to use the Parallel Videos feature effectively in your project. To learn how to create a parallel node, you can head to Use Parallel Videos.

The types of experiences parallel video can enrich is ever-growing:

Simultaneous events/Different PoVs

Camera angles

Viewer controlled visual effects

Simulate live-event camera switching – use footage from different cameras to allow your viewer to watch a sports event, a music concert, or even a conference from different angles simultaneously.

Multiple realities – Let your viewer jump between parallel worlds in real time and distinguish distinguish between two or more realities. It’s especially fun to wonder if those realities ever accidentally fit together.

Parted ways – A chance meeting, or event, might cause two (or more!) characters to stray from their course. Your viewer can continue following more than one of them to watch what happens next.

The Parallel Videos feature has endless possibilities, and we can’t wait to see what you create with it. Just keep in mind – you don’t need to be afraid to leave out exciting moments from some of the channels – appeal to the viewer’s sense of missed opportunities and make sure they watch the video again to discover different possibilities.

Interactivity

Because each parallel node can contain between two and four different channels, it’s important to make the parallel node long enough to allow the viewer to register all the different channels.

When deciding on a length for the parallel node you should take into question:

The time it takes the viewer to understand the switching buttons

How different the channels are

How long you expect the viewer to stay on each channel

The amount of channels in your parallel node

In certain types of interactive video, you may want the parallel switching experience to continue throughout the whole video. If your tree contains just one parallel node, take extra care to preview your tree and make sure all elements fit together seamlessly.

Switching Experience

The parallel node creates a brand new experience for your viewer. If before they explored the narrative by making simple this-or-that choices, now they’ll be able to explore the difference between coinciding channels and see how they relate to each other. This level of control creates a fresh set of interactive possibilities and a heightened level of engagement.

There are two types of interface interaction you can make:

Channel Specific Buttons – Assign a button for each specific channel to allow the viewer to follow a person or situation. This becomes very valuable when the emotional connection to the character and their fate is what drives the viewer’s choices.

Switch Channel Buttons – use the Previous Channel / Next Channel buttons to create an ever changing sense of discovery and curiosity. Use this option to cultivate a sense of curiosity and excitement in your viewers.

Interface Design

Because the parallel switching buttons often appear for a longer period time (to allow the viewer to switch between the different channel and get the most of the feature), it is important to make sure they appear as a cohesive part of the interactive video.

Design and place your buttons on screen in a way that will appear to the viewer as clickable targets while making sure they complement the video in all of the channels. Remember that the placement of the channel switching buttons is constant throughout the parallel node, so it’s crucial you take the elements’ location into consideration on each and every channel from beginning to end.